Ipswich Town take on AFC Wimbledon for the first time in their history this evening. Andy Warren looks ahead to the contest under lights at Portman Road.

When was the last time Ipswich Town entered a game with this level of expectancy?

On paper at least, Town v AFC Wimbledon is a mismatch in the Blues' favour.

Ipswich were beginning their 17-year stay in the Championship when the Dons were founded in 2002, starting life in the Combined Counties League Premier Division with a squad assembled following trials on Wimbledon Common.

For them to be meeting as equals now would have been unthinkable back then.

To that end, nothing but a win is expected from Paul Lambert's men this evening.

They've been favourites going into games plenty of times in recent months but never has the weight of expectation been this heavy. Fans will arrive at Portman Road expecting Lambert's side to flex their muscles.

Plenty of Championship games were approached with optimism of victory without a high level of expectancy, while cup games against lower-league opposition were regarded as banana skins thanks to the evidence of recent years. The first three games of this season were all regarded as 'tricky' when the schedule was released in June.

Kane Vincent-Young could make his Ipswich Town debut this evening but is struggling with a toe injury. Picture: ITFC

I'd argue the last time Ipswich were truly expected to beat a team was Burton's visit to Portman Road in February 2018. Mick McCarthy's men barely laid a glove on the side bottom of the second tier on that occasion during an extremely dull 0-0 draw.

This expectancy level is something Ipswich must now get used to. They will be expected to beat Bolton's youth team next weekend, Shrewsbury at the end of August and Rochdale in September's first league game, too.

You have to feel the way they deal with this new pressure will shape their season from this point.

We've been talking about the Blues' formation heading into each of their four games so far this season.

Lambert's used a 4-4-2 in all three league games while operating a 4-2-3-1 in the cup loss at Luton.

The feeling is the latter is his preferred approach long-term, but does he have the personnel to pull it off right now?

Alan Judge, the natural No.10 in the latter formation, is not at top speed by any stretch of the imagination but there will come a time when the urge to start him becomes too strong.

We've seen a glimpse of what the Irishman and James Norwood can do as a pair in the final pre-season game at Cambridge but that would mean sacrificing Kayden Jackson who, while performing well in his first four games and offering a real threat using his pace and hard-running, has had few true sights of goal.

Flynn Downes and Cole Skuse have impressed at the start of the campaign but, while offering a good base for Lambert's side, they perhaps don't bring invention in the middle of the pitch.

Judge is the obvious option to rectify those issues, if Lambert believes he can play himself into form, while Emyr Huws is another option if the Town boss decides to add central reinforcements.